Rights Plan and Series A Junior Participating Preferred Stock

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Rights Plan and Series A Junior Participating Preferred Stock [Abstract]

Rights Plan and Series A Junior Participating Preferred Stock

Rights Plan and Series A Junior Participating Preferred Stock:

On September 10, 2002, the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board of Directors”) declared a dividend of one preferred stock purchase right for each outstanding share of the Company’s common stock held by stockholders of record at the close of business on September 23, 2002. To implement the rights plan, the Board of Directors designated 700,000 shares of the Company’s 5.0 million authorized shares of undesignated preferred stock as Series A Junior Participating Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share. Each right entitles the registered holder to purchase from the Company one one-thousandth of a share of preferred stock at a purchase price of $9.00 in cash, subject to adjustment. No shares of Series A Junior Participating Preferred Stock were outstanding as of December 31, 2011. In January 2004, the Board of Directors of the Company approved an amendment to the rights plan in which the purchase price of each right issued under the plan increased from $9.00 per share to $65.00 per share.